YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT PLAY: One reason why government space programs are not the way to go: pork, and lots of it. Over half a billion dollars in FY2002.

In fairness, a good chunk of what is labeled as pork technically falls under the education mandate in NASA's charter. However, it's easy to see -- given whose district gets how much and for what in these education-related earmarks -- that a good portion of even that spending is questionable.

And come on, what do fisheries and insect exhibits have to do with space?